Zinc vs. Tombak

[Seagullmc]

I appreciate these are two very different metals. On some badges, particularly luftwaffe, the distinction is obvious. The zinc doesn't have the detail and seems to age more poorly. Other badges, it's more difficult to make the distiction. Is there a simple giveaway to identify zinc from tombak?
Thanks,
Colin

[Paul Massucci]

Hi Colin,
There are 2 answers to your question. The first which is a direct answer to your question is Yes. True Tombak is an alloy of 82% copper, 8% tin, 7% zinc and 3% lead, ( source, Deutsche Industrie-Norm) and has a bronze color. Zinc badges on the other hand are encounted in either what is refered to as "finezinc" a refined zinc alloy or the later "Kriegsmetall" which was a very low quality alloy. both have a grey apperance with the Kriegsmetall being a very dark grey.

The other answer is that badges ,especialy Luftwaffe were made from other materials "neusilbe" and "altsiber" being 2 . Read Andy Hopkins excellent article on badge construction here; http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/coll...nstruction.htm

[Yuri Desyatnik]

Zinc actually takes a very nice strike. Most zinc awards that I have seen have excellent detail. All of the Heer numbered badges are zinc, and a lot of other rarer badges are as well.

[Spanky]

Most zinc-based badges will exhibit bubbling, flaking or fading of the finish. Even a zinc-based badge with good original finish usually has some small spots where the gray base metal can be seen. Tombak badges on the other hand can look brand new depending on the amount of wear and quality of storage, but worn spots or edges will expose the brass colored base metal. Get a good jewelers loop and look carefully, after looking at enough badges it will become pretty obvious.